🌿 From Landfills to TEDx: How Young Voices Council Member Jaivee Kagalwala is Rewriting the Future with Sustainability

When Jaivee Kagalwala stepped onto the TEDx stage, she wasn’t just delivering a talk—she was sparking a movement. A passionate sustainability advocate and a member of the Teach the Future Young Voices Council, Jaivee is using her voice to challenge how we see, live, and act on our relationship with the Earth.

Her TEDx talk, titled “Adopting Sustainable Mindsets for a Better Tomorrow,” is a rallying cry for all of us to move beyond recycling bins and reusable bags—to adopt sustainability as a mindset rooted in empathy, action, and hope.

“I always thought the weather was just a way to make small talk,” she began, “but now it seems like Mother Nature is trying to get our attention. I mean, she's throwing tantrums that would even make a toddler jealous.”

With humor and heart, Jaivee delivered a powerful message: climate change isn’t just a distant threat—it’s a very real and present warning. A plastic bottle we use today may outlive our grandchildren. An ocean once teeming with life could become a “swirling soup of plastic” by 2050. A cotton t-shirt consumes enough water to sustain a person for nearly three years.

“We think it's global warming, but it's more like a global warning,” she said, reminding the audience that the Earth will survive without us—but we may not survive without it."

As the founder of Ecopathy, Jaivee has already reached over 4,000 students, businesses, and medical institutions, transforming awareness into tangible action. But her talk made it clear: this is just the beginning.

“This isn't just trash,” she recalled after visiting a landfill, “it's a timeline. A living record of choices we've made. A tattered plastic bag fluttering in the wind like a ghost of convenience.”

That moment sparked a mission: to reconnect humanity with nature—not through fear, but through care and commitment.

Her call to action wasn’t abstract. Jaivee asked every audience member to take out their phones and type one thing they would change starting today. From saving electricity to refusing single-use plastics, she showed that small choices, when multiplied, create revolutions.

As a member of the Young Voices Council (YVC)—Teach the Future’s global network of youth leaders from 20 countries—Jaivee is part of a growing movement to mainstream futures literacy and prepare young people to lead with futures thinking in mind. Through bi-weekly development sessions, research, and international collaborations, YVC members are building the skills to transform their communities with futures thinking at the forefront.

Jaivee’s journey is a shining example of what youth foresight leadership looks like in action:

• Founding Ecopathy, a platform to drive sustainability education and mindset shifts

• Launching a podcast to spotlight changemakers and creative solutions

• Delivering workshops across sectors and ages

• Standing on the TEDx stage to amplify youth-led environmental action

Her mission aligns perfectly with the YVC’s core values: empowering youth to lead, bridging local action with global impact, and creating futures worth inheriting.

“Sustainability is like planting a tree,” Jaivee concluded. “It starts small—with a single seed, a single action. But with care and perseverance, it grows into something far greater than itself—offering shelter and life for generations to come.”

This is what Teach the Future is all about. And this is what young people like Jaivee are already doing.

“Through Ecopathy, I’ve strived to ignite a sense of responsibility and action among youth toward a more sustainable and conscious world. By conducting sessions with over 5,000 students and amplifying voices with my podcast series, I’ve realised that the future we envision depends on the choices we inspire today. 

Being a part of Young Voices Council has deepened my understanding of futures thinking–it’ not just about predicting what lies ahead but designing it with intention, inclusivity, and purpose. This experience has empowered me to think long term, act collaboratively, and advocate for a future that respects both people and the planet.” 

- Jaivee

🌱 Watch Jaivee’s full TEDx talk here: https://youtu.be/-xSB-7eWuoE 🌍 Learn more about the Young Voices Council and how you can support youth-led futures: teachthefuture.org ____________________________________________________________________________________